This invention relates to a powered system, such as a train, an off-highway vehicle, a marine vessel, a transport vehicle, and/or an agriculture vehicle, and more particularly to a system, method, and computer software code for controlling a powered system.
Some powered systems such as, but not limited to, off-highway vehicles, marine diesel powered propulsion plants, transport vehicles such as transport buses, agricultural vehicles, and rail vehicle systems or trains, are powered by one or more diesel power units, or diesel-fueled power generating units. With respect to rail vehicle systems, a diesel power unit is usually a part of at least one locomotive powered by at least one diesel internal combustion engine, and with the locomotive being part of a train that further includes a plurality of rail cars, such as freight cars. Usually more than one locomotive is provided, wherein a group of locomotives is commonly referred to as a locomotive “consist.” Locomotives are complex systems with numerous subsystems, with each subsystem being interdependent on other subsystems.
Rail vehicles, such as locomotives, for example, travel along a railroad which is divided into a number of block regions. Each block region includes a switch and a light signal positioned adjacent to the switch. When a locomotive occupies a block region, the light signal in the previous block region will have a red status so that an operator of a locomotive in the previous block region will stop the locomotive in the previous block region. Additionally, the light signal in the second previous block region will have a yellow status so that an operator of a locomotive in the second previous block region will reduce the speed of the locomotive in the second previous block region. Additionally, a light signal may have a flashing yellow status in a block region which is ahead of a block region having a light signal with a yellow status, for example. For example, an operator may observe a green light status, a yellow light status, a flashing yellow light status, and a red light status in consecutive block regions, for example. As appreciated by one of skill in the art, this light signaling arrangement is designed to ensure the safety of those locomotives traveling through the block regions of the railroad.
In conventional locomotive systems, a remote dispatch center communicates minimal information to a locomotive operator, such as an authorization for the locomotive to travel to a specific mile posting on the railroad, for example. Additionally, an operator of a locomotive observes the status of the light signals in each block region when determining the locomotive parameters, such as an engine notch, for example. Thus, operators of conventional locomotive systems propel the train at or near speed limit and stop or reduce the speed, depending on the observed status of the signals in each block region, since the operator is not aware when the states of light signals in upcoming block regions are likely to change.